Dear Colleagues,

The MASP ExCo felt that it is about time we revive our newsletter to keep our members posted about the developments in the pain community. We welcome members to send in reports on your developments and initiatives to us at <maspsecretariat@gmail.com> so that the rest of us can share your joy and achievements.

It has been our tradition to organize a scientific meeting every two years to bring together pain practitioners all over the country as well as to attract new bloods into the field. On the 10th - 12th of March 2016, the 5th MASP Biennial Scientific Meeting was successfully held at the Swan Convention Centre, Sunway Medical Centre. This time around, our focus was to expand our horizons to the primary care level. Hence, much of our topics were tailored to meet the needs of primary care providers. The meeting was attended by more than 250 participants and was well-received. The organizing committee would like to express our gratitude to members of the faculty and all delegates for helping us make the event a success. If you would like to view photos of the scientific meeting, kindly log on to "www.masp.org.my" or find us on Facebook by typing in "Malaysian Association for the Study of Pain" and give us a "Like" while you are at it.

Financial Support for Attendance at 16th World Congress on Pain in Yokohama Japan

The MASP is offering financial support to members to attend the 16th World Congress on Pain (WCP) in Yokohama Japan. In order to be eligible for the financial support, members must fulfill the following criteria:

1. The Applicant must be a life member of the MASP.2. The Applicant must be presenting a poster or speaking at a topical workshop/symposium at the 16th WCP.3. The Applicant must apply in advance to the MASP Executive Committee for approval.4. If you are receiving financial support from any other source, you will have to declare this in your application for financial support.

Process for application for financial support:

1. A cover letter must be completed in full and sent by email to the President, Malaysian Association for the Study of Pain (MASP) at <maspsecretariat@gmail.com> with a copy of the abstract, together with the letter of acceptance.

2. The cover letter must include the following:

2.1 a declaration by the applicant of all financial support obtained from other sources for the purpose of attending the conference.

2.2 a declaration by the applicant that agreement of the co-authors, that theapplicant be allowed to present the poster/paper, has been received. 2.3 a statement by the applicant agreeing to the decision of the MASP Executive Committee with regard to the application and amount of subsidy granted.

3. The amount of financial support will be decided by the MASP Executive committee, and will depend on the number of applicants, with a maximum of RM3000 per person. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of your application by the beginning of September 2016.

4. Reimbursement will be made after the 16th WCP and will be based on original receipts, submitted to the Treasurer, MASP, to a maximum of the amount of financial support approved.

We know it wasn't that long ago when we talked about the 6th ASEAPS Congress held in Manila, but the 7th ASEAPS is coming up soon! Please mark your calendars and save the date to attend the congress on February 17th - 19th, 2017 in Myanmar. As usual, the MASP will provide financial aids to members whose posters have been accepted. Priority will be given to those who did not receive financial aid for the 16th IASP World Congress on Pain 2016. Stay tuned for more information.

We are hosting the 11th International Symposium on Pediatric Pain (ISPP) 2017!!!

The 11th International Symposium on Pediatric Pain (ISPP) will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 6-9, 2017. For more details, please visit www.ispp2017.org.

It’s time to prepare your proposal to help shape the program for this congress!Submit your proposal for a Workshop, or submit a Poster Abstract to contribute to the program so that the congress will provide the latest research and developments in understanding the mechanisms, assessment, prevention and treatment of pediatric pain.

Click hereto submit a Proposal for a Workshop. Deadline for submission of workshop proposals is August 15 2016.

Click hereto submit a Poster Abstract. Deadline for submission of Poster abstracts is January 31, 2017

The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) has recently launched an open access multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal by the name of PAIN Reports. This online journal publishes full-length articles as well as brief reports, reviews, meta-analyses, meeting proceedings, and selected case reports. PAIN Reports gives special attention to submissions reporting the results of enterprising and high-risk research and pilot studies as well as locally developed clinical guidelines from scientists and clinicians in developing countries. The MASP would like to urge our members to grab hold of this opportunity to make your work seen by submitting manuscripts to PAIN Reports for publication. Subsidy for publication will be provided once your manuscripts have been accepted. For further information, kindly visit http://www.iasp-pain.org/PublicationsNews/PAINReports.aspx.